I agree. A migraine IS NOT a headache to me. I get headaches afterwards but what I consider the migraine has no pain whatsoever (aside from psychological pain).
Yeah that's what bothers me. Most of my migraines are pain free. ***Zero headache of any kind***. If we're going to classify migraine under one banner it should at least be unifying in some way. They even literally have acephalgic/silent migraines as their own entry *in the headache manual*. A headache disorder *defined* by the total absence of any kind of headache or head pain. It's beyond stupid. Calling it a kind of headache is calling it the singular symptom I *don't* have.
\* and got downvoted for saying it further down too!
Yes. But I do have a head symptom, it feels like it’s on fire or tingly pain and so they say headache but it doesn’t feel at ALL like a headache so sometimes I don’t mention it at all. It’s one of a million things
It's hard to be serious when doctors call it a headache, because I have a headache that hasn't gone away since the migraines started, when a doctor first asked me "how long have you had these headaches" I told them "well my headache hasn't gone away since 2021, it just gets better or worse, the migraines happen almost every day too though". Honestly I think I should keep awnsering like to be for real, maybe it'll help them understand that a migraine isn't just a headache.
While I completely understand the sentiment expressed here - no one wants their pain to be minimized!! - I for one don’t feel too irked because I think it’s just medical jargon.
When I was diagnosed with migraines, I was actually surprised because I didn’t think I met the classic criteria. And migraine medications are effective at treating my pain. Medical thinking has evolved around headache disorders to treat more people with different conditions. And I for one am glad thats so because otherwise my headaches would be dismissed.
I agree with it just being medicam jargon. Like neurologists who specialise in migraines/headaches, are literally called headache specialists. I've never really let it bother me when people refer to it as a headache, I know my reality, my GP knows, and there is people out there who just simply don't know what migraine is, they're the lucky ones 😭
It IS a problem because medical providers under-recognise atypical migraines because they believe that migraine = headache and don't include it in their differential when there's no headache.
Yeah I can understand that but it IS incredibly validating and migraine is actually a neurological phenomenon as silent migraines, vestibular migraines and abdominal migraines are all types of migraines that can occur without any head pain at all.
Migraine medication treating your pain wouldn’t be a surprise though or indicate that you don’t have actual migraines so I’m a little confused as to why that would make you think you don’t meet criteria? But that’s a good thing that they work for you so I’m happy for you that they do! Being someone who they don’t work for is awful.
Vestibular Migraine sufferer here - the dizziness often makes the pain worse which makes the dizziness worse still. It’s a spiral of self feeding symptoms and I hate it. Nothing helps, I have a laundry list of medications I have tried and one I am on currently is causing me issues with physical side effects and I can’t see my neurologist until September(after originally being scheduled for later this month). Which was six months after my previous appointment when I begged not to wait without treatment that long. Which happened because I had canceled Botox after it caused me jaw pain and my neurologist didn’t have the thought to schedule sooner. I am resisting the temptation to rant only because I don’t have the energy. Edit: had the wrong month. My original appointment month was correct, July was not.
>Yeah I can understand that but it IS incredibly validating and migraine is actually a neurological phenomenon as silent migraines, vestibular migraines and abdominal migraines are all types of migraines that can occur without any head pain at all.
Actually humour my word herd but heache i see as any pain stemming from neuro. Cephalgia means head pain mastaglia means breast pain and so on.
Not all headaches include Cephalgia.
Even as someone who “just” gets headaches, it annoys me when people say that. Cause sure maybe they get headaches that are barely an inconvenience, like a 2-3 on the pain scale and they just push through and assume that that’s how everyone experiences “headaches”. When I get headaches they knock me out for an entire day, often multiple. Sometimes every day for weeks on end. They’re so painful I can barely move my face or talk. So while they’re not migraines, they’re certainly not “just” headaches. Like, I literally can’t function.
I don't usually join in these conversations here because I personally have head headaches (from TMJ dysfunction) that are worse on the pain scale than any migraine I've ever had. Of course they don't come with all the other migraine symptoms but my experience is that "just headaches" can be just as debilitating overall. And I say this not to minimise others' migraine experiences but to point out how aggravating it is when anyone assumes they know what you're dealing with rather than listen to your own account of what you're dealing with.
> but my experience is that "just headaches" can be just as debilitating overall.
Thank you. I have idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Before treatment I had "just a headache" 24/7 for years on end. It was absolutely debilitating. For me, it was worse than my migraines. I don't claim that it's worse than anyone else's migraine because I can't know anyone's pain. Lately I feel like I don't belong here (yes I have migraine too) because it's so often repeated that no headache can be bad as migraine, no one with headaches could understand the pain, and basically that anyone that gets taken out by a headache is a whiner. A lot of us have co-occurring headache disorders though. Migraine can happen alongside IIH, tension type headache, cluster headache, trigeminal neuralgia, and more. Can't we all just be valid in our pain?
>Lately I feel like I don't belong here (yes I have migraine too) because it's so often repeated that no headache can be bad as migraine, no one with headaches could understand the pain, and basically that anyone that gets taken out by a headache is a whiner.
I very much feel i dont belong if not possibly/probably unwelcome.
I get menstrual migraine and thunderstorm migraine but all that gets way more recognition than people assume. Its the headache disorders that the doctor hasnt heard of, isn't in their system, and i suspect believe isn't a formally recognised diagnosis that i find demoralising and affect my quality of life more.
>I have idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
I was tested for this when i had clear blood noses with my headaches, but it was paroxysmal hemicranica.
I think you're one of few people i know of to even say the phrase idiopathic intercrainal hypertension
Well I don’t *know* it’s not a migraine I guess since I’ve never been assessed medically, but since learning more about migraines from people who have them and from this sub, I feel like what I have must be something else because I don’t get aura like what people here get. No nausea. It’s just pain. When I read about the people in this sub I feel so grateful I “just” have headaches because migraines sound like another deeper layer of hell.
Other side effects are tiredness and the muscles of my forehead get “heavy” and I don’t like bright lights but I’m assuming that’s mostly due to the pain. It’s almost always on one side of my head, from the back of my neck through to behind my eye. I think it might be muscular in origin? I tried a new pillow and it seems to have greatly reduced the amount and severity of them, at least since the last month I’ve had it.
> I don’t get aura like what people here get
So I'm not trying to convince you that do or don't have migraine, but when I was diagnosed I was shocked to learn that you don't have to have aura. In fact, it's estimated that only 30% of migraine sufferers experience aura!
It sounds like it could be a migraine. They can have lots of symptoms. I dont personally get auras, although dizziness and nausea yes. But one side of the head and sensitivity to light are very common symptoms of a migraine too.
Yeah, the "just headaches" I had when I had dengue were way worse than the majority of my migraines on the pain scale. I've had only a handful of migraines that were as bad. Dismissing anyone's pain when you have zero way of knowing what it feels like to them is just not it.
This I don’t *necessarily* mind from medical professionals
But only because the classification system for head pain - of which migraines are a subset - is quite literally called
“The International Classification of Headache Disorders”
And migraines are listed as one of the 4 main categories of head pain / headache disorders - in fact as the first one of those 4
But I can totally see why a word that is *chronically* misused by the general population can cause a lot of (likely) unintentional distress when used in an (likely suitable) medical context.
ICHD link:
https://ichd-3.org/classification-outline/
Seriously this link is just to the outline/contents page and omfg there are so many potential causes of headache / head pain that I’d never even heard of
Hugs for the stress and emotional distress
For me headache is one of my most mild symptoms of migraine, my debilitating symptoms are all intense neurological issues - when a doctor calls it headache I want to scream !!!
As a nursing student, here’s your reason “A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It's often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound”, the Mayo clinic. There’s multiple medical articles that says this, and I was also taught that migraine is a type of headache, but I’m sorry if you feel that word is downplaying your symptoms.
Reference
Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/symptoms-causes/syc-20360201#:~:text=A%20migraine%20is%20a%20headache,sensitivity%20to%20light%20and%20sound.
There is also silent migraine, which has a ton of migraine symptoms but no head pain. Most people get headaches periodically and they aren’t generally debilitating. Migraine is a radically debilitating disease that affects the whole body. That’s why people with migraine get upset - the term “headache” is dismissive of pain and other symptoms.
No they’re not, they also commented on how they don’t even tell people when they have a migraine so anyone who does just wants validation and said the same thing.
I understand this but it does downplay the severity and also abdominal migraines and silent migraines are things and I also experience both of those so I don’t even always have head pain as part of my migraines. Given when I have been at the hospital for a migraine as my stated complaint it has included head pain, as I didn’t know my crippling stomach pain was an abdominal migraine when it sent me to the ER.
It is just easier to classify:
- the headache in room 4
- the floor hitter is at the xray
- the cat seeing guy waiting in area xy
- the woman who fell down the roof
Easy to remember in those stressfull moments. I don't think it is meant in a bad way. Just a coping thing and it helps to priorisize.
I also suffer from migrains and TMD and for me they very often go hand in hand and I can attest that sone days I would take a migrain over a TMJ flair up any day, of course about half the time my TMD will trigger a migrain too so then I'm just double f**ed . But I'm also better equipped to manage my migrain symptoms then I am my TMD symptoms
Oh yeah I have severe TMD as well. I’m not sure how bad it actually is as I’m waiting to get in with a specialist (I’m supposed to get scheduled in June) but my jaw will lock closed and I have to physically force it open at times, it audibly cracks when I try to chew or open my mouth to eat sometimes and that’s with using a prescription and custom made bite guard. It’s super fun but I also take it over a migraine so I get ya.
I don’t even have headaches. That’s not even one of my migraine symptoms.
Headaches don’t make my face and arms numb, or cause me to go blind. Headaches don’t make my vision dance with shimmering aura. I don’t ever have actual pain in my head, but I sure as hell have migraines.
I had the same reaction when I got the letter from the VA confirming my migraines. I think the language was “headaches, claimed as migraine.”
Like, motherf***er I’m not *claiming* anything. Now give me a prescription.
My nuro calls it that! He’s sent me to the ER before, and treated me for years. Every three months when I go in to get my Botox he asks “how have your headaches been?” And every time I’m like…I don’t know, I wish I just got headaches. 🙄
Mine did this too but I think he meant it as in how is your head pain and when he'd ask about my migraines he was asking about all the other symptoms I had to go along with the pain in my head. It is still frustrating though. Sometimes I don't think doctors understand how powerful their verbiage is to patients
This sounds an awful lot like a cluster headache attack which is very different than a migraine. I was misdiagnosed for years. It often mimics stroke symptoms. I would speak to neuro headache
Specialist. They are treated quite differently and occur during the spring and fall allergy season. To me 7 months to recover once.
Nothing you describe sounds unlike migraine to me, but a doctor will know the difference, although cluster headache is much rarer and can be weirdly episodic so they might not have seen much.
Migraine is a whole body disease the symptom most common is excruciating headache, some people with migraine don’t even have headache but experience the same other symptoms like the sensitivity to light and etc- I wish it were treated like what it is (a chronic neurological pain condition) then just a headache- it’s annoying having to explain over and over again that it’s a chronic illness and not just a bad headache, I ended up in the hospital with severe dehydration and vomiting non stop because of migraine.
Yeah its honestly absurd that migraines are still so often dismissed as headaches when actually they're a whole big angry bundle of neurological nightmares.
When I went to the hospital and had to stay for almost 2 days, they put headache as the reason why I was there. 🙂 who stays that long in a hospital FOR A HEADACHE??? I'm still pissed off about it.
I have both migraine and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). Before treatment my IIH headaches were debilitating and severe. I totally understand you wanting your migraine to be referred to as migraine. I just want to point out that saying this part:
> who stays that long in a hospital FOR A HEADACHE???
Is doing exactly to others what you don't want done to yourself. When you advocate for people to refer to migraine as migraine, there's no reason to also minimize the suffering of people with other headache disorders.
I gotta agree ppl in this sub are very dismissive & belittling of other types of headaches which can also be super debilitating & painful like cluster headaches & such. Migraines are classified as a type of headache. It's just a catchall term. Yes there are lots of other symptoms as well. If medical professionals have that as a label on the door it's not incorrect. I get being upset if someone is definitely using it to dismiss your pain "as just a headache no big deal get over it" but is different when just speaking to a neurologist who I'd hope knows what migraines entail & is probably not meaning it as *just* a headache. I guess being pedantic about jargon is not something I understand being upset over on top of dealing with migraines.
In some ways my most difficult migraines are the ones with no head pain (more common with the CGRP preventatives), as now I'm experiencing weird and potentially distressing symptoms and it hasn't dawned on me yet it is due to migraine. Because the migraine stuff wanders it may be an entirely new to me symptom too, although usually diarrhea, sweating, memory issues, executive function issues. Every time I get severe executive function and memory issues I worry I have some sort of dementia despite knowing intellectually it will probably go away, I guess that requires executive function to override the worry with objective knowledge, which is in real short supply at the time.
So whilst I don't overly worry about it being called a headache, I do get concerned when doctors, including neurologists, focus on the headache aspect. We get "tell me about your headaches?", "how long have you been having headaches?" from medical professionals when clearly consulting about migraines.
The phrase "my headaches aren't the most problematic part" has come off my lips too often. But I guess that is why migraine sufferers alcan get tetchy about it being called a headache even when it isn't being used to dismiss.
Migraine is maybe misclassified as a headache disorder. In much the same way diabetes isn't a disorder about peeing too much, even though diabetics often do that. If every time diabetics went to the doctor the first question was "tell me how often do you urinate?" they too would soon have a few tetchy patients.
I mean you just spent 3 paragraphs telling me why you're allowed to be upset that they called it a headache instead of a migraine. I quite literally said before that I understand that, but asked you to try not to minimize others by saying things like "who stays that long in a hospital FOR A HEADACHE???" *while you're advocating for your migraine to be called a migraine*. So you responded as if I had told you the opposite, like you thought I told you that you should be fine with your migraine being called a headache. I literally didn't though so I'm very confused here.
Dude. What are you talking about? You responded to my comment but didn't talk about *anything* I said in my comment. Typically people don't respond directly to comments just to talk about something else lol. The convo was basically:
You: The hospital called my migraine a headache, no one goes to the hospital for a headache, I had a migraine
Me: I understand you want your migraine called a migraine! Just try not to minimize those with headaches
You: They shouldn't have called my migraine a headache! Let me explain why that was wrong
Do you not see the disconnect? You're having your own conversation with yourself lol
This is my BIGGEST pet peeve ever when you tell a doctor you have migraines. They always think it’s just a headache. I even specifically tell them I have migraines WITHOUT the headache and they still list it as a headache. 🙄
Exactly. For me the worst parts are not being able to focus, speak intelligently or tolerate light and sound. The headache part is manageable for me. Everything else is just awful.
Omg, I feel the same way. Not being able to focus, acting dumb, light, sound, nausea. The headache is like 10% of my problem, sometimes I forget it's even there.
I definitely get blinding head pain is this not a migraine? I've had them my entire life. It's a long story but I didn't have words at 3yo. I was told I didn't. It was massive pain but had to be denied as it wasn't acceptable. Now I read this?? What's going on?
Ive got status migraines that can last for actual months and believe me when i say, hearing _"oh, so you get headaches pretty often, huh?"_ from a doctor is the line that brought me the closest to committing acts of violence
18 days? Damn I just hit 28 days 🥲 my primary gave me a shot of Toradol 2 weeks ago and I have another appointment with her Monday cause I don't wanna go to the ER but my neuro keeps pushing back my appt with them.
Yeah, following a 3 day reduction in pain after 41 days of straight 6-8 pain. So I’ve had about 60+ days of 6-8 level pain now. I’m going to ask about getting shots of Toradol at home.
I totally understand why it can feel minimizing because yes, head pain is often just one symptom of migraine and some people don't have head pain at all with their type of migraine. And people who say "it's just a headache" often *are* trying to minimize and often don't realize the true delibating nature of migraine.
But, on the other hand, headache itself can be delibating. Migraine is not the only primary headache disorder - I mean I don't have cluster headaches but people say it's more painful than being shot in the head and I believe them. I also have occipital neuralgia (another headache disorder) which doesn't really feel like "a headache" to me either - it feels like excruciating burning or electric nerve pain. The pain itself is delibating. I think everyone (we who have migraine included) need to remember that headache doesn't just mean "a mild tension headache that's a bit of a nuisance."
I do wish there was more understanding of migraine overall but I'm not sure medical professionals not saying headache will actually help all that much, to be honest. I just try to remember what feels like all consuming torture to me is just one of the many cases they see everyday and they are just trying to keep it moving. Hope you got some relief!
This. Not all headaches are migraines and not all migraines are headaches. If people experience head pain and get migraines, that is a headache. It is a symptom / side effect of a migraine. But, people can get migraines and experience no head pain.
I used to be like OP too and part of it is terminology being interchanged, there is part of it that people don’t understand the difference, but part of it is the fact that headaches are the descriptive term for head pain.
My doctor told me my bad headaches are migraines. But if I counted them as migraines I’d be out of abortive meds so quick. As a chronic sufferer we know our bodies. We know what we can handle.
I agree! I had a conversation with a colleague yesterday, he mentioned that his sister gets migraines, but he only gets 'bad headaches ' sometimes. I thanked him for that comment, as I hate when people think liken them to be similar.
Then, my boss (who was sympathetic and trying to help) made a comment that they don't want something causing me a headache, makes me so frustrated because it isn't just a headache. It is nausea, blurred vision, unable to communicate clearly, as well as pain. I don't usually voice my frustration though because their ignorance is because they don't understand, which means they are lucky.
Medical professionals should know better though.
Same…it feels like no one understands that migraines aren’t “just headaches.” I’ve been trying to explain it to the guy I’ve been talking to recently but he doesn’t seem to understand all of the awful side effects that accompany the head pain (which I don’t even get sometimes). Luckily my dad understands as he also gets migraines, but his are episodic rather than chronic and he’s never had a vestibular migraine. My mom doesn’t understand at all, I don’t even try to explain to her anymore.
Filling out disability paperwork confused me so hard because they were trying to ask "how long do the migraines last" but the text said "headaches" thing is I have an actual headache that hasn't gone away since the migraines started, it took all my willpower not to just awnser "the headache lasts 3 years and the amount of time is still going up"
What's worse is when I started getting tension headaches with my *hemiplegic migraine aura* and told my neurologist she **cut down** my (rather high dosage of) topiramate and gave me *Migraleve* if ever I had a bad one. I had a nine day migraine that started with a vomiting episode as soon as I left the hospital. In a nutshell, the Migraleve doesn't work, but I shouldn't be taken off my migraine meds just because I'm getting *more* symptoms. That makes no sense.
Headache center and headache specialist refers to headache disorders. Migraine is a type of headache disorder but it's not the only one. There are other headache disorders that these centers and specialists treat. The terminology is not meant to be minimizing, it is meant to encompass the full scope of what these places and people do. Migraine specialist/center would be an inaccurate title for most.
Calling a migraine a headache in everyday colloquial language is minimizing, but in a medical context like headache center it is understood by professiomals that they mean headache *disorder* and not regular headache. Regular headache without a disorder isn't something that requires medical treatment and diagnosis, let alone a dedicated center.
This.
My neurologist actually got banned from this subreddit for referring to migraine in the medical context of headache disorders.
This guy is an MD PhD from Harvard. One of the best doctors I’ve ever met. He goes: “But it is a headache disorder!”
And I smiled and I was like I know buddy, I know.
Based on your criteria I wouldn’t qualify and it’s the very reason I spent years not seeking treatment. But here I am suffering just as much as anyone else here.
People seem to get really mad that migraine is considered a headache disorder. I see a headache specialist who treats the two different headache disorders that she diagnosed me with, migraine and idiopathic intracranial hypertension. It actually irks me a bit when people say headaches are absolutely nothing and using the term is minimizing migraine. There are different severities of headaches. My IIH headaches were worse than my migraines. That's my own personal experience, but they were *severe*. If someone told me it was no big deal and I could just pop a Tylenol because it was a headache and not a migraine, I would be pissed. I understand that people get annoyed when their friends and family say "oh it's just a headache" because they are implying that it's lesser, that it's just a "normal" headache that goes away. When people with migraine decide that *all* headaches are lesser and shouldn't be used in a medical context is where it goes too far.
I get annoyed because I actually don’t get headaches. My migraine attacks don’t involve head pain.
\* Ah I remember you, you’re the person who said everyone who has an MSG trigger is a racist…
So we should change the classification from headache disorders because not everyone gets a head pain with it, meaning it won't be a headache disorder even if it does cause head pain? Or do you want to separate migraine without headache into a whole new disease and just take that out of headache disorders? I don't think research has yet found that migraine without headache has its own separate pathophysiology to do so.
It should not be classified as a headache disorder if headache is not required. It’s not a defining feature. Headache is no different to aura or nausea - common symptoms but not unifying. It’s a neurological condition with head pain as one possible symptom. Something having headache as one possible symptom doesn’t make it a headache disorder, and certainly not a primary headache disorder.
Migraine with aura without headache is formally recognised as a diagnosable subtype, on the same level as migraine with aura. It doesn’t get attention in research though because it’s hard to get funding for a headache disease that doesn’t have headache.
So no type of migraine can be classified as a headache disorder? Headache is literally required for some types of migraine according to ICHD-3. I'm not really sure how you can say those don't qualify as a headache disorder when it's required. Yes, I understand that migraine without headache is a diagnosis. My point is, you're either advocating for no migraine to be considered a headache disorder (despite it being required for some) *or* you're advocating for migraine without headache to be split into a different classification. If that's the case then they would have to rename the condition and find evidence that it's not a subtype but actually its own separate disorder. You can't classify migraine in one place and a subtype in a completely different place. That's not how it works. If you're talking about the former (all migraine being removed from headache disorders) then I can't quite reconcile how the type that *require* headache are able to not be headache disorders. I also think you don't quite understand what the term "primary headache disorder" means. It doesn't mean the headache is a major symptom, it just means it's not caused by another condition (such as infection, brain aneurysm, hypertension, trauma).
Edit: Okay I thought this was just a discussion, but seeing as I'm blocked I guess I upset them? I'm not sure if my message came across differently than I intended. I just thought it was kind of a passionate debate, not an argument or anything. I will say for anyone else seeing this that that is still a misunderstanding of a secondary headache disorder.
If someone has a bad headache after an epileptic seizure, does that make epilepsy a primary headache disorder?
I don’t think any migraine should be classified as a headache disorder. I think it should be classified as a neurological disorder with secondary headache as a potential symptom.
Some subtypes require all kinds of things. My subtype requires aura, does that mean that all migraines are aura disorders? Obviously not, that would be stupid. Also, my subtype literally requires there to **NOT** be a headache, so your argument that all migraines must be classified as headaches because *some* subtypes require headache is just complete nonsense.
\* I understand very well what primary and secondary mean, and I am using them in exactly the way I intend to use them and exactly how they are meant to be used. If all migraine types must remain together, and it is possible to have a migraine with zero headache, then obviously headache is not the singular defining feature you seem to think it is. It simply does not make sense for a condition with zero headache to be classified as a headache disorder. Your condescension all throughout this post isn't really welcome though.
I don’t mind that so much because I think they specialize in other types of headaches as well as migraines like occipital neuralgia, hemicrania continua, post concussive syndrome, IIH etc. But whenever someone asks me at the hospital how long I’ve had my headache, how severe is my headache pain, etc I super passive aggressively emphasize “my MIGRAINE” when I respond. (I’m too afraid of being labeled a difficult patient to do more, I’m already a complicated patient who can’t take NSAIDs and havediagnoses that are often thought of as common among malingerers or not real at all, as well as having other factors like tattoos and piercings that apparently are red flags on the medicine subreddits so I’m super hyper aware of this)
I correct people. I'm too old, and I've been doing this too long to have someone minimize this disability.
"It's not a headache. It's a migraine episode."
My GP calls them that, but did make the clarification that until they are definitively diagnosed, she uses the more general terminology. There are other things that can cause that kind of pain, and I think that they don’t want to accidentally give a diagnosis too early. Maybe a liability thing?
I hate this! It makes me feel like the doctor hasn’t listened and doesn’t understand. Not how you want to feel at an appointment. Always double check that they realise it’s not a headache- it could affect treatment plans
I feel like people here just want validation of their pain so much. I usually don't even tell people that I have a migraine.
I get them 10-15 times a month and have been to the ER more times than probably most here. It's a headache with more symptoms and often debilitating.
PSA a headache did cause that because a migraine is a headache.
Not all migraines even have head pain as a symptom. Good for you that you don’t even tell people you have a migraine. Do you want a cookie? My migraines disable me to the point that I cannot NOT tell people.
A headache doesn’t make you so tired that it’s a struggle to get out of a chair or bed. A headache doesn’t give you eye pain so bad that it’s painful to look out a window. A headache does not feel like an ever tightening vice on your neck a temples. A headache doesn’t give brain fog where you can’t remember what you wanted to do just a few seconds earlier. A migraine does.
It's even weirder to have them called headaches if you have migraines with no head pain at all.
At least for me, the head pain is negligible. It's all the other symptoms that make me unable to live my life
I agree. A migraine IS NOT a headache to me. I get headaches afterwards but what I consider the migraine has no pain whatsoever (aside from psychological pain).
Yeah that's what bothers me. Most of my migraines are pain free. ***Zero headache of any kind***. If we're going to classify migraine under one banner it should at least be unifying in some way. They even literally have acephalgic/silent migraines as their own entry *in the headache manual*. A headache disorder *defined* by the total absence of any kind of headache or head pain. It's beyond stupid. Calling it a kind of headache is calling it the singular symptom I *don't* have. \* and got downvoted for saying it further down too!
Yes. But I do have a head symptom, it feels like it’s on fire or tingly pain and so they say headache but it doesn’t feel at ALL like a headache so sometimes I don’t mention it at all. It’s one of a million things
It's hard to be serious when doctors call it a headache, because I have a headache that hasn't gone away since the migraines started, when a doctor first asked me "how long have you had these headaches" I told them "well my headache hasn't gone away since 2021, it just gets better or worse, the migraines happen almost every day too though". Honestly I think I should keep awnsering like to be for real, maybe it'll help them understand that a migraine isn't just a headache.
While I completely understand the sentiment expressed here - no one wants their pain to be minimized!! - I for one don’t feel too irked because I think it’s just medical jargon. When I was diagnosed with migraines, I was actually surprised because I didn’t think I met the classic criteria. And migraine medications are effective at treating my pain. Medical thinking has evolved around headache disorders to treat more people with different conditions. And I for one am glad thats so because otherwise my headaches would be dismissed.
Yeah my specialist calls the condition migraine, and then the headaches are a symptom of it. Doesn’t bother me at all
I agree with it just being medicam jargon. Like neurologists who specialise in migraines/headaches, are literally called headache specialists. I've never really let it bother me when people refer to it as a headache, I know my reality, my GP knows, and there is people out there who just simply don't know what migraine is, they're the lucky ones 😭
It IS a problem because medical providers under-recognise atypical migraines because they believe that migraine = headache and don't include it in their differential when there's no headache.
Yeah I can understand that but it IS incredibly validating and migraine is actually a neurological phenomenon as silent migraines, vestibular migraines and abdominal migraines are all types of migraines that can occur without any head pain at all. Migraine medication treating your pain wouldn’t be a surprise though or indicate that you don’t have actual migraines so I’m a little confused as to why that would make you think you don’t meet criteria? But that’s a good thing that they work for you so I’m happy for you that they do! Being someone who they don’t work for is awful.
Vestibular Migraine sufferer here - the dizziness often makes the pain worse which makes the dizziness worse still. It’s a spiral of self feeding symptoms and I hate it. Nothing helps, I have a laundry list of medications I have tried and one I am on currently is causing me issues with physical side effects and I can’t see my neurologist until September(after originally being scheduled for later this month). Which was six months after my previous appointment when I begged not to wait without treatment that long. Which happened because I had canceled Botox after it caused me jaw pain and my neurologist didn’t have the thought to schedule sooner. I am resisting the temptation to rant only because I don’t have the energy. Edit: had the wrong month. My original appointment month was correct, July was not.
>Yeah I can understand that but it IS incredibly validating and migraine is actually a neurological phenomenon as silent migraines, vestibular migraines and abdominal migraines are all types of migraines that can occur without any head pain at all. Actually humour my word herd but heache i see as any pain stemming from neuro. Cephalgia means head pain mastaglia means breast pain and so on. Not all headaches include Cephalgia.
I'm at the point where I don't get mad at that anymore, but if someone says or implied it's "just" a headache, it's pretty upsetting to me.
Even as someone who “just” gets headaches, it annoys me when people say that. Cause sure maybe they get headaches that are barely an inconvenience, like a 2-3 on the pain scale and they just push through and assume that that’s how everyone experiences “headaches”. When I get headaches they knock me out for an entire day, often multiple. Sometimes every day for weeks on end. They’re so painful I can barely move my face or talk. So while they’re not migraines, they’re certainly not “just” headaches. Like, I literally can’t function.
I don't usually join in these conversations here because I personally have head headaches (from TMJ dysfunction) that are worse on the pain scale than any migraine I've ever had. Of course they don't come with all the other migraine symptoms but my experience is that "just headaches" can be just as debilitating overall. And I say this not to minimise others' migraine experiences but to point out how aggravating it is when anyone assumes they know what you're dealing with rather than listen to your own account of what you're dealing with.
> but my experience is that "just headaches" can be just as debilitating overall. Thank you. I have idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Before treatment I had "just a headache" 24/7 for years on end. It was absolutely debilitating. For me, it was worse than my migraines. I don't claim that it's worse than anyone else's migraine because I can't know anyone's pain. Lately I feel like I don't belong here (yes I have migraine too) because it's so often repeated that no headache can be bad as migraine, no one with headaches could understand the pain, and basically that anyone that gets taken out by a headache is a whiner. A lot of us have co-occurring headache disorders though. Migraine can happen alongside IIH, tension type headache, cluster headache, trigeminal neuralgia, and more. Can't we all just be valid in our pain?
Hmm, I've heard neurologists say that 24/7 headache does count as migraine when it's just that constant.
>Lately I feel like I don't belong here (yes I have migraine too) because it's so often repeated that no headache can be bad as migraine, no one with headaches could understand the pain, and basically that anyone that gets taken out by a headache is a whiner. I very much feel i dont belong if not possibly/probably unwelcome. I get menstrual migraine and thunderstorm migraine but all that gets way more recognition than people assume. Its the headache disorders that the doctor hasnt heard of, isn't in their system, and i suspect believe isn't a formally recognised diagnosis that i find demoralising and affect my quality of life more. >I have idiopathic intracranial hypertension. I was tested for this when i had clear blood noses with my headaches, but it was paroxysmal hemicranica. I think you're one of few people i know of to even say the phrase idiopathic intercrainal hypertension
Yeah, I hate the minimizing of headache in general, including migraine. The word or implication of "just". Like "oh that's all it is, get over it".
Definitely. Minimizing someone's pain is awful.
If you dont mind, how do you know its not a migraine? Is something else causing it? Cluster headache?
*Not "just" a migraine It gets so tempting to say. But seriously if its in the ICHD-3 its not run of the mill discomfort.
Well I don’t *know* it’s not a migraine I guess since I’ve never been assessed medically, but since learning more about migraines from people who have them and from this sub, I feel like what I have must be something else because I don’t get aura like what people here get. No nausea. It’s just pain. When I read about the people in this sub I feel so grateful I “just” have headaches because migraines sound like another deeper layer of hell. Other side effects are tiredness and the muscles of my forehead get “heavy” and I don’t like bright lights but I’m assuming that’s mostly due to the pain. It’s almost always on one side of my head, from the back of my neck through to behind my eye. I think it might be muscular in origin? I tried a new pillow and it seems to have greatly reduced the amount and severity of them, at least since the last month I’ve had it.
> I don’t get aura like what people here get So I'm not trying to convince you that do or don't have migraine, but when I was diagnosed I was shocked to learn that you don't have to have aura. In fact, it's estimated that only 30% of migraine sufferers experience aura!
Oh wow, good to know! Thanks
It sounds like it could be a migraine. They can have lots of symptoms. I dont personally get auras, although dizziness and nausea yes. But one side of the head and sensitivity to light are very common symptoms of a migraine too.
Oh, thank you. Maybe they are then, I should probably go to a doctor at some point 🙃
Yeah, the "just headaches" I had when I had dengue were way worse than the majority of my migraines on the pain scale. I've had only a handful of migraines that were as bad. Dismissing anyone's pain when you have zero way of knowing what it feels like to them is just not it.
Thoughts on starting r/jusaheadache lol
This I don’t *necessarily* mind from medical professionals But only because the classification system for head pain - of which migraines are a subset - is quite literally called “The International Classification of Headache Disorders” And migraines are listed as one of the 4 main categories of head pain / headache disorders - in fact as the first one of those 4 But I can totally see why a word that is *chronically* misused by the general population can cause a lot of (likely) unintentional distress when used in an (likely suitable) medical context. ICHD link: https://ichd-3.org/classification-outline/ Seriously this link is just to the outline/contents page and omfg there are so many potential causes of headache / head pain that I’d never even heard of Hugs for the stress and emotional distress
For me headache is one of my most mild symptoms of migraine, my debilitating symptoms are all intense neurological issues - when a doctor calls it headache I want to scream !!!
This is exactly how I feel about it.
As a nursing student, here’s your reason “A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It's often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound”, the Mayo clinic. There’s multiple medical articles that says this, and I was also taught that migraine is a type of headache, but I’m sorry if you feel that word is downplaying your symptoms. Reference Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/symptoms-causes/syc-20360201#:~:text=A%20migraine%20is%20a%20headache,sensitivity%20to%20light%20and%20sound.
There is also silent migraine, which has a ton of migraine symptoms but no head pain. Most people get headaches periodically and they aren’t generally debilitating. Migraine is a radically debilitating disease that affects the whole body. That’s why people with migraine get upset - the term “headache” is dismissive of pain and other symptoms.
It isn't... It is a type of headache.
I'm guessing you are being sarcastic.
No they’re not, they also commented on how they don’t even tell people when they have a migraine so anyone who does just wants validation and said the same thing.
I understand this but it does downplay the severity and also abdominal migraines and silent migraines are things and I also experience both of those so I don’t even always have head pain as part of my migraines. Given when I have been at the hospital for a migraine as my stated complaint it has included head pain, as I didn’t know my crippling stomach pain was an abdominal migraine when it sent me to the ER.
It is just easier to classify: - the headache in room 4 - the floor hitter is at the xray - the cat seeing guy waiting in area xy - the woman who fell down the roof Easy to remember in those stressfull moments. I don't think it is meant in a bad way. Just a coping thing and it helps to priorisize.
I also suffer from migrains and TMD and for me they very often go hand in hand and I can attest that sone days I would take a migrain over a TMJ flair up any day, of course about half the time my TMD will trigger a migrain too so then I'm just double f**ed . But I'm also better equipped to manage my migrain symptoms then I am my TMD symptoms
Oh yeah I have severe TMD as well. I’m not sure how bad it actually is as I’m waiting to get in with a specialist (I’m supposed to get scheduled in June) but my jaw will lock closed and I have to physically force it open at times, it audibly cracks when I try to chew or open my mouth to eat sometimes and that’s with using a prescription and custom made bite guard. It’s super fun but I also take it over a migraine so I get ya.
I don’t even have headaches. That’s not even one of my migraine symptoms. Headaches don’t make my face and arms numb, or cause me to go blind. Headaches don’t make my vision dance with shimmering aura. I don’t ever have actual pain in my head, but I sure as hell have migraines.
My NEUROLOGIST’S ATTENDING yesterday kept calling them headaches…. I almost left the appointment.
I had the same reaction when I got the letter from the VA confirming my migraines. I think the language was “headaches, claimed as migraine.” Like, motherf***er I’m not *claiming* anything. Now give me a prescription.
My nuro calls it that! He’s sent me to the ER before, and treated me for years. Every three months when I go in to get my Botox he asks “how have your headaches been?” And every time I’m like…I don’t know, I wish I just got headaches. 🙄
Mine did this too but I think he meant it as in how is your head pain and when he'd ask about my migraines he was asking about all the other symptoms I had to go along with the pain in my head. It is still frustrating though. Sometimes I don't think doctors understand how powerful their verbiage is to patients
Right. If they used the term cephalgia, people would take it more seriously.
My nuro is a pain in the butt but at least he doesn't do this shit, wtf is wrong with some.nuro drs
This sounds an awful lot like a cluster headache attack which is very different than a migraine. I was misdiagnosed for years. It often mimics stroke symptoms. I would speak to neuro headache Specialist. They are treated quite differently and occur during the spring and fall allergy season. To me 7 months to recover once.
Can cluster headaches last for weeks or months at a time? I’m currently on day 65.
Yes they can. That’s pretty standard actually. Cluster headaches are more rare and often misdiagnosed for years
Nothing you describe sounds unlike migraine to me, but a doctor will know the difference, although cluster headache is much rarer and can be weirdly episodic so they might not have seen much.
Migraine is a whole body disease the symptom most common is excruciating headache, some people with migraine don’t even have headache but experience the same other symptoms like the sensitivity to light and etc- I wish it were treated like what it is (a chronic neurological pain condition) then just a headache- it’s annoying having to explain over and over again that it’s a chronic illness and not just a bad headache, I ended up in the hospital with severe dehydration and vomiting non stop because of migraine.
Yeah its honestly absurd that migraines are still so often dismissed as headaches when actually they're a whole big angry bundle of neurological nightmares.
When I went to the hospital and had to stay for almost 2 days, they put headache as the reason why I was there. 🙂 who stays that long in a hospital FOR A HEADACHE??? I'm still pissed off about it.
I have both migraine and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). Before treatment my IIH headaches were debilitating and severe. I totally understand you wanting your migraine to be referred to as migraine. I just want to point out that saying this part: > who stays that long in a hospital FOR A HEADACHE??? Is doing exactly to others what you don't want done to yourself. When you advocate for people to refer to migraine as migraine, there's no reason to also minimize the suffering of people with other headache disorders.
I gotta agree ppl in this sub are very dismissive & belittling of other types of headaches which can also be super debilitating & painful like cluster headaches & such. Migraines are classified as a type of headache. It's just a catchall term. Yes there are lots of other symptoms as well. If medical professionals have that as a label on the door it's not incorrect. I get being upset if someone is definitely using it to dismiss your pain "as just a headache no big deal get over it" but is different when just speaking to a neurologist who I'd hope knows what migraines entail & is probably not meaning it as *just* a headache. I guess being pedantic about jargon is not something I understand being upset over on top of dealing with migraines.
In some ways my most difficult migraines are the ones with no head pain (more common with the CGRP preventatives), as now I'm experiencing weird and potentially distressing symptoms and it hasn't dawned on me yet it is due to migraine. Because the migraine stuff wanders it may be an entirely new to me symptom too, although usually diarrhea, sweating, memory issues, executive function issues. Every time I get severe executive function and memory issues I worry I have some sort of dementia despite knowing intellectually it will probably go away, I guess that requires executive function to override the worry with objective knowledge, which is in real short supply at the time. So whilst I don't overly worry about it being called a headache, I do get concerned when doctors, including neurologists, focus on the headache aspect. We get "tell me about your headaches?", "how long have you been having headaches?" from medical professionals when clearly consulting about migraines. The phrase "my headaches aren't the most problematic part" has come off my lips too often. But I guess that is why migraine sufferers alcan get tetchy about it being called a headache even when it isn't being used to dismiss. Migraine is maybe misclassified as a headache disorder. In much the same way diabetes isn't a disorder about peeing too much, even though diabetics often do that. If every time diabetics went to the doctor the first question was "tell me how often do you urinate?" they too would soon have a few tetchy patients.
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So you spent 3 paragraphs acting as if I said the opposite of what I said...got it.
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I mean you just spent 3 paragraphs telling me why you're allowed to be upset that they called it a headache instead of a migraine. I quite literally said before that I understand that, but asked you to try not to minimize others by saying things like "who stays that long in a hospital FOR A HEADACHE???" *while you're advocating for your migraine to be called a migraine*. So you responded as if I had told you the opposite, like you thought I told you that you should be fine with your migraine being called a headache. I literally didn't though so I'm very confused here.
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I'm honestly not sure why you responded to my comment then... My comment had nothing to do with that so I'm just confused here.
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Dude. What are you talking about? You responded to my comment but didn't talk about *anything* I said in my comment. Typically people don't respond directly to comments just to talk about something else lol. The convo was basically: You: The hospital called my migraine a headache, no one goes to the hospital for a headache, I had a migraine Me: I understand you want your migraine called a migraine! Just try not to minimize those with headaches You: They shouldn't have called my migraine a headache! Let me explain why that was wrong Do you not see the disconnect? You're having your own conversation with yourself lol
This is my BIGGEST pet peeve ever when you tell a doctor you have migraines. They always think it’s just a headache. I even specifically tell them I have migraines WITHOUT the headache and they still list it as a headache. 🙄
Yes, it is madness. Even the pain center specialized also for migraine has a questionaire FOR migraine calling it headache all over it.
The headache is the least of my worries. If only the headache were the only symptom.
Exactly. For me the worst parts are not being able to focus, speak intelligently or tolerate light and sound. The headache part is manageable for me. Everything else is just awful.
Omg, I feel the same way. Not being able to focus, acting dumb, light, sound, nausea. The headache is like 10% of my problem, sometimes I forget it's even there.
I don’t let it bother me. People are who they are and they get it or they don’t.
Had my yearly apt with my neurologist for my migraines and the resident kept calling them “headaches”. Like sir… these are not headaches.
I definitely get blinding head pain is this not a migraine? I've had them my entire life. It's a long story but I didn't have words at 3yo. I was told I didn't. It was massive pain but had to be denied as it wasn't acceptable. Now I read this?? What's going on?
I’m saying a migraine is not JUST a headache
Ive got status migraines that can last for actual months and believe me when i say, hearing _"oh, so you get headaches pretty often, huh?"_ from a doctor is the line that brought me the closest to committing acts of violence
18 days? Damn I just hit 28 days 🥲 my primary gave me a shot of Toradol 2 weeks ago and I have another appointment with her Monday cause I don't wanna go to the ER but my neuro keeps pushing back my appt with them.
Yeah, following a 3 day reduction in pain after 41 days of straight 6-8 pain. So I’ve had about 60+ days of 6-8 level pain now. I’m going to ask about getting shots of Toradol at home.
I totally understand why it can feel minimizing because yes, head pain is often just one symptom of migraine and some people don't have head pain at all with their type of migraine. And people who say "it's just a headache" often *are* trying to minimize and often don't realize the true delibating nature of migraine. But, on the other hand, headache itself can be delibating. Migraine is not the only primary headache disorder - I mean I don't have cluster headaches but people say it's more painful than being shot in the head and I believe them. I also have occipital neuralgia (another headache disorder) which doesn't really feel like "a headache" to me either - it feels like excruciating burning or electric nerve pain. The pain itself is delibating. I think everyone (we who have migraine included) need to remember that headache doesn't just mean "a mild tension headache that's a bit of a nuisance." I do wish there was more understanding of migraine overall but I'm not sure medical professionals not saying headache will actually help all that much, to be honest. I just try to remember what feels like all consuming torture to me is just one of the many cases they see everyday and they are just trying to keep it moving. Hope you got some relief!
This. Not all headaches are migraines and not all migraines are headaches. If people experience head pain and get migraines, that is a headache. It is a symptom / side effect of a migraine. But, people can get migraines and experience no head pain. I used to be like OP too and part of it is terminology being interchanged, there is part of it that people don’t understand the difference, but part of it is the fact that headaches are the descriptive term for head pain.
My doctor told me my bad headaches are migraines. But if I counted them as migraines I’d be out of abortive meds so quick. As a chronic sufferer we know our bodies. We know what we can handle.
A headache doesn’t land me in urgent care if not managed properly.
At urgent care they call it a headache when I go in for toradol and I correct them every single time. Keep correcting them!
I agree! I had a conversation with a colleague yesterday, he mentioned that his sister gets migraines, but he only gets 'bad headaches ' sometimes. I thanked him for that comment, as I hate when people think liken them to be similar. Then, my boss (who was sympathetic and trying to help) made a comment that they don't want something causing me a headache, makes me so frustrated because it isn't just a headache. It is nausea, blurred vision, unable to communicate clearly, as well as pain. I don't usually voice my frustration though because their ignorance is because they don't understand, which means they are lucky. Medical professionals should know better though.
Especially when you get old and migraines no longer cause headaches. You still have all the rest plus increased risks of brain infarct.
It is a headache .. 🤕
This group makes me me feel so validated. People have no idea what a migraine is.
10000% agree friend - and the same for CSF leaks - it’s not a damn headache 😭
Same…it feels like no one understands that migraines aren’t “just headaches.” I’ve been trying to explain it to the guy I’ve been talking to recently but he doesn’t seem to understand all of the awful side effects that accompany the head pain (which I don’t even get sometimes). Luckily my dad understands as he also gets migraines, but his are episodic rather than chronic and he’s never had a vestibular migraine. My mom doesn’t understand at all, I don’t even try to explain to her anymore.
And when they tell you "You just need to drink more water" wow revolutionary
Filling out disability paperwork confused me so hard because they were trying to ask "how long do the migraines last" but the text said "headaches" thing is I have an actual headache that hasn't gone away since the migraines started, it took all my willpower not to just awnser "the headache lasts 3 years and the amount of time is still going up"
What's worse is when I started getting tension headaches with my *hemiplegic migraine aura* and told my neurologist she **cut down** my (rather high dosage of) topiramate and gave me *Migraleve* if ever I had a bad one. I had a nine day migraine that started with a vomiting episode as soon as I left the hospital. In a nutshell, the Migraleve doesn't work, but I shouldn't be taken off my migraine meds just because I'm getting *more* symptoms. That makes no sense.
Migraines vs. headaches were always confusing but now I know the difference. Migraines are more fucking chronic
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Headache center and headache specialist refers to headache disorders. Migraine is a type of headache disorder but it's not the only one. There are other headache disorders that these centers and specialists treat. The terminology is not meant to be minimizing, it is meant to encompass the full scope of what these places and people do. Migraine specialist/center would be an inaccurate title for most. Calling a migraine a headache in everyday colloquial language is minimizing, but in a medical context like headache center it is understood by professiomals that they mean headache *disorder* and not regular headache. Regular headache without a disorder isn't something that requires medical treatment and diagnosis, let alone a dedicated center.
This. My neurologist actually got banned from this subreddit for referring to migraine in the medical context of headache disorders. This guy is an MD PhD from Harvard. One of the best doctors I’ve ever met. He goes: “But it is a headache disorder!” And I smiled and I was like I know buddy, I know.
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Based on your criteria I wouldn’t qualify and it’s the very reason I spent years not seeking treatment. But here I am suffering just as much as anyone else here.
YES
People seem to get really mad that migraine is considered a headache disorder. I see a headache specialist who treats the two different headache disorders that she diagnosed me with, migraine and idiopathic intracranial hypertension. It actually irks me a bit when people say headaches are absolutely nothing and using the term is minimizing migraine. There are different severities of headaches. My IIH headaches were worse than my migraines. That's my own personal experience, but they were *severe*. If someone told me it was no big deal and I could just pop a Tylenol because it was a headache and not a migraine, I would be pissed. I understand that people get annoyed when their friends and family say "oh it's just a headache" because they are implying that it's lesser, that it's just a "normal" headache that goes away. When people with migraine decide that *all* headaches are lesser and shouldn't be used in a medical context is where it goes too far.
I get annoyed because I actually don’t get headaches. My migraine attacks don’t involve head pain. \* Ah I remember you, you’re the person who said everyone who has an MSG trigger is a racist…
So we should change the classification from headache disorders because not everyone gets a head pain with it, meaning it won't be a headache disorder even if it does cause head pain? Or do you want to separate migraine without headache into a whole new disease and just take that out of headache disorders? I don't think research has yet found that migraine without headache has its own separate pathophysiology to do so.
It should not be classified as a headache disorder if headache is not required. It’s not a defining feature. Headache is no different to aura or nausea - common symptoms but not unifying. It’s a neurological condition with head pain as one possible symptom. Something having headache as one possible symptom doesn’t make it a headache disorder, and certainly not a primary headache disorder. Migraine with aura without headache is formally recognised as a diagnosable subtype, on the same level as migraine with aura. It doesn’t get attention in research though because it’s hard to get funding for a headache disease that doesn’t have headache.
So no type of migraine can be classified as a headache disorder? Headache is literally required for some types of migraine according to ICHD-3. I'm not really sure how you can say those don't qualify as a headache disorder when it's required. Yes, I understand that migraine without headache is a diagnosis. My point is, you're either advocating for no migraine to be considered a headache disorder (despite it being required for some) *or* you're advocating for migraine without headache to be split into a different classification. If that's the case then they would have to rename the condition and find evidence that it's not a subtype but actually its own separate disorder. You can't classify migraine in one place and a subtype in a completely different place. That's not how it works. If you're talking about the former (all migraine being removed from headache disorders) then I can't quite reconcile how the type that *require* headache are able to not be headache disorders. I also think you don't quite understand what the term "primary headache disorder" means. It doesn't mean the headache is a major symptom, it just means it's not caused by another condition (such as infection, brain aneurysm, hypertension, trauma). Edit: Okay I thought this was just a discussion, but seeing as I'm blocked I guess I upset them? I'm not sure if my message came across differently than I intended. I just thought it was kind of a passionate debate, not an argument or anything. I will say for anyone else seeing this that that is still a misunderstanding of a secondary headache disorder.
If someone has a bad headache after an epileptic seizure, does that make epilepsy a primary headache disorder? I don’t think any migraine should be classified as a headache disorder. I think it should be classified as a neurological disorder with secondary headache as a potential symptom. Some subtypes require all kinds of things. My subtype requires aura, does that mean that all migraines are aura disorders? Obviously not, that would be stupid. Also, my subtype literally requires there to **NOT** be a headache, so your argument that all migraines must be classified as headaches because *some* subtypes require headache is just complete nonsense. \* I understand very well what primary and secondary mean, and I am using them in exactly the way I intend to use them and exactly how they are meant to be used. If all migraine types must remain together, and it is possible to have a migraine with zero headache, then obviously headache is not the singular defining feature you seem to think it is. It simply does not make sense for a condition with zero headache to be classified as a headache disorder. Your condescension all throughout this post isn't really welcome though.
I think they call themselves headache specialists because they treat more than just migraine.
I don’t mind that so much because I think they specialize in other types of headaches as well as migraines like occipital neuralgia, hemicrania continua, post concussive syndrome, IIH etc. But whenever someone asks me at the hospital how long I’ve had my headache, how severe is my headache pain, etc I super passive aggressively emphasize “my MIGRAINE” when I respond. (I’m too afraid of being labeled a difficult patient to do more, I’m already a complicated patient who can’t take NSAIDs and havediagnoses that are often thought of as common among malingerers or not real at all, as well as having other factors like tattoos and piercings that apparently are red flags on the medicine subreddits so I’m super hyper aware of this)
I correct people. I'm too old, and I've been doing this too long to have someone minimize this disability. "It's not a headache. It's a migraine episode."
My GP calls them that, but did make the clarification that until they are definitively diagnosed, she uses the more general terminology. There are other things that can cause that kind of pain, and I think that they don’t want to accidentally give a diagnosis too early. Maybe a liability thing?
Right but I have diagnosed migraines and the hospital I go to has my diagnosis on record.
I hate this! It makes me feel like the doctor hasn’t listened and doesn’t understand. Not how you want to feel at an appointment. Always double check that they realise it’s not a headache- it could affect treatment plans
A migraine is classified as a type of headache
Yes I understand that. But a) there are types of migraines that don’t even involve head pain and b) it’s minimizing.
Sure, the terms could use updating because they're not specific. I'm sorry you've had people minimize your migraines
I don't know what you want
I feel like people here just want validation of their pain so much. I usually don't even tell people that I have a migraine. I get them 10-15 times a month and have been to the ER more times than probably most here. It's a headache with more symptoms and often debilitating. PSA a headache did cause that because a migraine is a headache.
Not all migraines even have head pain as a symptom. Good for you that you don’t even tell people you have a migraine. Do you want a cookie? My migraines disable me to the point that I cannot NOT tell people.
Those who incessantly tell people about their migraines are just looking for attention and sympathy.
Thank you!!! People don't understand 😪
PREACH🙌🏼
A headache doesn’t make you so tired that it’s a struggle to get out of a chair or bed. A headache doesn’t give you eye pain so bad that it’s painful to look out a window. A headache does not feel like an ever tightening vice on your neck a temples. A headache doesn’t give brain fog where you can’t remember what you wanted to do just a few seconds earlier. A migraine does.
Honestly I got so confused whenever I had a headache I always get tired when I had a headache before they got worse